MAKING THE PRESIDENCY

A noted presidential scholar argues that it was the second president who stabilized, strengthened, and defined the office.

In her latest book, Chervinsky, a senior fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University and the author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, analyzes the unique presidency of John Adams (1735-1826). As the author describes in impressive depth, Adams was essentially flying blind when he took the oath of office upon succeeding the universally lauded yet aloof George Washington in the first transfer of executive power in U.S. history. Despite a total lack of executive experience, Adams had to demonstrate that the presidency could operate without Washington and negotiate partisan machinations among the Federalists and Republicans inside and outside his administration (particularly those of his vice president and rival, Thomas Jefferson, who would defeat him in 1800), while meeting potential threats from Europe that could severely wound the fledgling republic. Chervinsky's familiarity with the function and machinations of early presidential cabinets—and her ability to convey such knowledge in an entertaining and engaging style—is invaluable as she illuminates the difficulties under which Adams labored. The author makes great use of the papers and letters of Adams and other important figures of the era to explain the complexities of late-18th-century politics in the U.S. She also reinforces just how much the second president relied on his remarkable First Lady, Abigail Adams, whose influence on that era of American politics and Adams himself should never be undervalued. Ultimately, Chervinsky produces a worthy and intriguing look at how the decisions that Adams made established presidential and political norms that provided a guide for his successors in the White House—and have endured in modern times.

A significant contribution to the history of the American presidency.